Busy Month full of Thanks!

 After a somewhat humorously long wait for our Turkey to cook, we did finally sit down for our simple and "small" Thanksgiving Dinner.  It wasn't small in the amount of food, but rather in the amount of company.  We typically gather with friends for this festive day, but we chose to spend the day at home, just us, this year.  Actually it was a "plan b" after we discovered that Salvation Army had enough volunteers to serve their meal.  It was a very laid-back day that we enjoyed thoroughly!  We had no worries about eating Gluten-Free, and no one was put out to fix anything special!  So easy.  It was also the first day that we didn't have freezing rain in a while, so I was also thankful to be able to take a walk with my dogs!  It did begin to snow these extremely wet, slushy snowflakes, and I returned home completely soaked, but it was beautiful and worth it!

We have been extra busy getting ready for our debut Arts and Crafts Fair!  Well, technically, I had done a crafts bazaar a few weeks ago, but this was a very large event with over 165 vendors.
We worked hard to make enough inventory for our Alaska to Africa Project.  We had no idea what kind of goal to set, so we just rolled with it.  God blessed us so much in this project!  We were able to make about 90 pieces to sell and we sold about 75!  We have been able to put all the profits from these sales to Drawn From Water (If you aren't familiar with this organization, please take a look!).  God so blessed us those two days after Thanksgiving!  In all my disdain for "Black Friday" I was thankful for others who took the time to go shop and then purchased with a purpose at our booth!  We were able to raise over $1,500 for DFW, and we still have orders coming in!  Praise God!  Plus, we were able to share about the organization and hopefully bring others into the joy of helping them.  It was amazing to hear about all the connections people in our small community had to Africa.  It was really encouraging!  We met missionaries, adoptive families, and many others who had friends in Africa.  We hope this is just the first of many years of being able to help through the Craft Fair!

Now that things are possibly slowing down, I am continuing to look forward to my days at Love, INC.  Again, if you haven't heard of this organization, please check it out!  They are local organizations (that operate nationally) that help to coordinate churches to help neighbors in need.  I am helping with taking phone calls, and I love it!  I'm also hoping to start some budget counselling (I am not a counselor, but I have successfully operated both larger and smaller budgets!).
 I also can't wait to go shopping for some food boxes that we hope will help homeless teens get though the school break over Christmas.  Our Church Youth Pastor challenged us this week to "Do One Thing."  Pat and I cannot do just one thing.  I can't imagine anyone who has the life of Christ in them to stop at just one thing.  We are praying about what God may have us do for these kids beyond the food boxes.  Kids should not be homeless and hopeless anywhere in the world.

I asked my husband what he thought our next year would bring.  Neither of us have a clue, but we are really excited!  God has blown open the doors of our hearts and pushed us to action in ways I'd have never dreamed.  I am so thankful for every small thing and every small opportunity we have to share.